My Story

Bridging the 7 Pillars of Culture for All Mankind...click & drag the logo to share this page

The answer to your needs...

If you want a good education...

Michal Recommends:

Fairleigh-Dickinson

Independent University in New Jersey

From the FDU website

FDU has campuses in NJ, England & Canada

This site is self-censored for nudity in a way that preserves the integrity of the human body. It may remain censored for as long as it is accessible to the public and public obscenity laws persist which stigmatize the human body and fetishize its sexual elements.

The human body is not dirty, but as long as there are people who deep down continue to think it is, I will make a point of obliging them by covering it all up whenever I please.

My Story, a cultural reference

Michal enjoys making films for women... Is he some kind of...you know... ?

To me, the vagina is a symbol of equality and acceptance. In our modern age, we may not all have passed through one, but the door is always open - to everything, for better or for worse. I want to protect that idea. I want others to open themselves up to the needs of others. I want them to listen.

By getting past my preconceptions, and actually listening to women, I've become a better judge and a more helpful person. I want to give others a chance to do the same.

I've decided to export fine art handcrafted by women in Poland to America. High quality handcrafted art produced by high quality women deserves to be shared. The more I can sell stateside to people who know the difference, the more I can buy from those whose worthy hands to continue the fight for openness and equality, a fight that I've taken to the world wide web.

If the clip has trouble playing please try a version with a lower resolution.

Janina: An Oral History of the Twentieth Century in Southern Poland

Chapter 28: The Nursery

Janina describes some of the particulars surrounding the settlement of living arrangements for the family as well as the clothing factory for which her brother worked and the nursery building which he and later she inhabited.

Help End Mobbing With Art

Author's Note: I have been enjoined from sharing the details of my true romance adventure until such time that the other party is prepared to present her perspective on the affair arrangement...

On Monday, I arrived in Europe. By Wednesday I had bought a car. By Friday I had met the woman who a few months later would end up having travelling 6,000 miles across Europe with me.

I had come to Europe to document people practicing naturism. Preliminary arrangements had been made to meet with an Egyptian nudist visiting the Continent and there was some kind of Pan-European gathering scheduled to take place in Croatia. I had arranged for an assistant to come along with me to help with anything I needed, but when her passport was stolen the night before we were supposed to leave, my plans went awry. I decided on something less ambitious. I would visit a naturist sauna in the city of Bielsko-Biala, Poland which I had just found on the internet. When I got there, I met Margo.

I had grown up in America. Land of opportunity. I came of age in the booming 90s when everything was possible. She had grown up in Poland. She had come of age at a time when the Soviets were making sure that there wasn't even anything to eat in the country. I couldn't even properly translate the word "opportunity" into Polish.

Despite the cops in Vienna. Despite the rain in Veržej. Despite getting lost in Italy. Despite parting at Soest. Despite that night in Amsterdam. Despite our fight in Lisieux. Despite the storm in the Bois de la Roche. Despite that terrible morning outside Collonges. Despite the long road to Pielenhofen, we came back safe and sound and most importantly we were happy. We had started to learn how to listen. We had left the devils of the road behind and the devils ahead seemed just a little bit smaller. We had started to open up.

During our trip across Europe, Margo very bravely opened up to me and to the camera. It was a difficult thing to do considering the scars that she carries. I wanted to share with the world her often joyful, often sad, often angry but always liberating experience except that the Internet is full of pictures of naked women and men and full of trolls who abuse them.

I realized that what I really need to point out is not the openness that Margo and I cultivated between ourselves, but the darkness that continues to surround us. When I censor nudity, I do so in a way that does not compromise the integrity of the human body. In censoring the photographs that Margo and I took during our trip, I was quick to notice that in those pictures where Margo was at her most open, at her most unguarded and most relaxed, in a word, when she was herself and basking in the sun I was forced to blacken her completely.

Why does our society drive people into darkness? Why can we not accept ourselves as we are? Why can we not accept our bodies? Have we truly become eunuchs? Or are we capable of defying the sickness that pits us against each other? Together we could conquer the devils that abuse us.

Whether you enjoy being nude or not, whether you've been photographed nude or not, but especially if, for you, like for Margo, it's something you never thought you would do, consider submitting your own photograph to be published in a censored manner as a form of protest against the ubiquitous presence of the human body on the internet, naked or not, that is published and duplicated ad infinitum without context and without regard for the identity or the needs of the individual being depicted.

If you would like to submit a comment or review of your own, fill out the comment form.

A little philosophy...

The three attributes of a word

Language is an assembly of words, therefore each individual word obeys the three rules of assembly: the rule of egalitarianism relates to a word's definition. It must be equal for all parties. The rule of association relates to the freedom of a word's connotation to drift. The rule of seniority applies to a word's identity, meaning that the people who have been responsible for using a word the longest have a conservative influence over its movement. The reach of a word along these three axes is described by the term cultural definition.

The three rules of assembly† were formulated as the product of personal observation while participating in the Occupy Movement's defense of Dilworth Plaza during the city government of Philadelphia's early morning ambush on the first of December, 2011. Rather than being a set of purely parliamentary rules, they are a description of the basic principles under which any assembly performs any kind of action as a group, whether it involves debate or not. They are the rules that distinguish such a group from a mob.

†As founding principles of a well-governed society, the three rules bear a relationship not only to the tripartite motto of Revolutionary France, Liberty, equality, fraternity, but to the evangelical counsels of the Christian New Testament on which Revolutionary ideals were based, namely poverty, chastity and obedience, whose definition during the past two millennia has been influenced to the detriment of mankind by the slave culture of Empire. A reassessment of the counsels under the guidance of Acceptance culture is the best way to push progressive religious and political reform further in the direction of ecumenism and internationalism.

Michal's Dictionary:My Story

Art is the expression of an idea. Often that idea is simply the form of the expression itself, the beautiful or not-so-beautiful shape of an otherwise meaningless gesture. This is decorative art. It encompasses everything from origami to cheap romance novels. It is popular and if you want to put a decorative print on your wall, you can buy one at a place like Ikea.

Most artists with ambition create documentary art, meaning the ideas embedded in their work relate to something beyond the undulations of their expressiveness. Instead of just making a new twist, they try to make that twist seem extra clever. It means something beyond being just a twist. In the most obscene cases, an artist won't even tell you what it means and suggests you figure it out for yourself. No other profession gets away with this. It's like a prostitute who says he's not sure if he does anal.

I try not to be clever. Trying to be clever is what I used to do when I was a child and I wanted attention. I try to be right. I try to discover the truth and pass it along. I try to trust my own judgment.

I've read most of the Bible. It's not a code of laws or something you put on your coffee table because it looks nice. It's one of the greatest documentary works of art ever compiled. When common people started reading it, the Reformation happened. Not everybody read the whole thing, nor did they necessarily understand what they did read, which is why not everything got reformed in the right direction. In their defense though, some parts of the Bible aren't even written in the right way. We all make mistakes. It doesn't mean we shouldn't keep working towards the right reform. That is the idea at the basis of the best art. It's the idea that I'm going to keep repeating because I am too old to be clever.

Pronunciation of My Story

I have yet to publish a pronunciation for the words "my story."

Video of me pronouncing "my story."Your browser does not support the video tag.

Definition of My Story

I have yet to publish the definition of My Story.

I'm sure it won't take too long.

References for my story

Samples of Fiction from Michal's Corpus

Michal's Fiction Corpus of Acceptance Literature (FiCAL) is presented under the Bare Bottom imprint. It is currently comprised of six bodies of work, each representing a different pillar of culture and incorporating a wide variety of writhing styles.

Samples of Fiction: Table of Contents

How do I use this?

Just click on a title to see examples of "fiction" from a particular work. You'll stay on the same spot on the page, only the Table of Contents will disappear. To get back to the Table of Contents just click next to the image of the Bare Bottom imprint where it says "Back to Samples of Fiction: Table of Contents."“And...?”

In the case of common words, a Table of Frequency and a Table of Collocation provide numerical information about how many times a word appears in its original or modified form and with which words. It can help to give you an idea of how common words are used and in what contexts. Find them in the "Common Words of English" part of the Education section.“Ok.”

Why a Fiction Corpus?

The popular understanding of the word "fiction" and its complement "non-fiction" is a reflection of the cultural influence of a classification system. The Dewey Decimal System is responsible for separating "fiction" from all other work and categorizing it by author's name. This has influenced the popular idea of fiction as a narrative that tends to be "untrue" and the product of an individual's fantasy, a bias compounded by modern art's century-long obsession with abstraction, surrealism and self-expression.“So...?”

My idea of fiction rests on the idea that art doesn't have to be factual to be a true reflection of our existence. Adam and Eve didn't have to exist as two individuals 700 generations ago for them to be true portraits of two human beings trying to work together.“And...?”

The Bible is a Fiction Corpus. It is a body of writing that isn't overly concerned with facts and yet its words carry weight. It was written by many different authors living in different places with different audiences in mind, yet everyone gleans something from it.“Right...”

In preparing my fiction corpus, I have striven to see the world through the eyes of others. Through the eyes of my Adams and Eves I hope that you too will glean some truth about our existence. At the very least you will learn some more about how one man can use the English language.“Ok.”

Who are you, Michal?

I'm just a guy who makes art. And if you're interested in making a solid investment in an aesthetic that supports our present and future welfare, then I will help you look for something that you can buy.“How...?”

Everybody makes. Everybody sells. Some people know how to protect their interests. Some better than others. Few people know how to listen. Listening to somebody means considering their interests as if they were your own. Going out and doing something to satisfy another person's interest is how we build a strong economy. Without a strong economy, democracy collapses.“And...?”

Buying 4Occupy is buying for democracy. Don't give your money to somebody who's ruining it. There's no such thing as cheap democracy, quick democracy, or easy democracy. There's good, solid, complete democracy and the tyranny of feudalism. Let's not mix the two. Let's not buy everything on the cheap. Let's not create another tyrant and enslave ourselves because it was easier not to think about what we were doing. Let's protect our interests. Let's listen.“Ok.”

Who's really behind this site?

Have you ever been to one of those post-it-yourself retail websites where there's a really attractive top-seller ready to give you tips on how you can be a top-seller too?“Uh...”

Have you ever been to a "job" interview where you sit in a line, walk through one door, get hired as a contractor and walk out another door, so that the other applicants don't realize that everyone's getting "hired" to work in the same market?“Maybe...”

The internet is full of people who are ready to exploit your ignorance. They are people who want to make money at the expense of our economy. They are cheats.“And...?”

I, Michal, am behind this site. Not some fat plutocrat exploiting my image. I like to do things the right way. I like to work with people who take the time to do things right.“Why...?”

I used to work for a company that didn't do things the right way. My labor was exploited because of mismanagement. That company was the United States Postal Service, an independent agency of the United States Government that is ultimately controlled by Congress. I'm mad because if the Federal Government can exploit labor, who is going to stop every other cheat from doing it?“Labor Unions...?”

Don't say labor unions. I went to my labor union and they did nothing. They ignored me because labor unions aren't democracies. Holding a free and fair election for a "representative" once in a blue moon does not equal people ruling. Democracy means open government. It means we the public need to accept the hard work. It's the only way to secure liberty and equality.“Ok.”

What's the difference between use and usage?

Definition-wise, not much. But the -age suffix is ultimately French in origin and with most things French, at least in American eyes, the immediate thought is that of something precious and arcane whose value should be judged very carefully. This is in contrast to the word France, which is associated with a beautiful place. Thus people in France or from France are beautiful, warm, kind people. Generous even. Unlike French people who suck. Unless you're frenching, in which case you're only sometimes sucking.“And...?”

Along those lines, usage means you're in bed. Use means you're just heavy petting. Also notice that common people, like common words, get used...whereas "proper" things make "appearances." Whether or not you are being exploited is a different story. Exploitation is what happens when somebody uses you or your property without listening to you. Listening is what happens when you consider another person's needs as if they were your own. You don't have to satisfy those needs. All you need to do is consider them. So many of us can't even do that.“So...?”

Help stop exploitation. Buy 4occupy. Buy a better world. Whether or not you feel you can afford to buy art, consider joining my protest. I want to guarantee every working man and every working mother on this planet a 15-day universal holiday. But I can't. Only we can do that. We have to work together. We have to accept the idea that everyone deserves time for himself and we need to build that time into a new kind of calendar. We have to give peace it's own day. We have to make love something you can't avoid. We have to make even the most miserly cold-hearted capitalist among us say that he cashed his check on Love Your Neighbor Day. There won't be any other way to say it once the Acceptance Calendar is widely adopted.“Ok.”

Samples of Fiction from Death to McDonalds

A story bible for a comic book series set in a post climate-change California narrated by eight characters who live through a natural disaster that sinks Los Angeles and triggers a war with an expansionist Mexican government covertly supported by China.

Frame #4695

im on the second floor. its hard to get around. its not just the bullets. its the bloody hookers. even the ones that arent dead wont move.

Samples of Fiction from The Gospel of Jesus H.

An experimental science fiction Christology that makes Jesus the hard boiled narrator of his own early years on a bizarro earth made dark by volcanic ash and informally ruled by a man from Mars who sells bottled air.

"I didn't notice him. If he did, he only came to the Mass - didn't have time for the burial. He always has to work. You know why? 'Cause he has to have an estate! He had to build a manor house! He had to buy fields from everybody else. Why did he have to do that? Because he's a 'real farmer!' A Christian farmer! A natural farmer! He's seventy years old! He takes all day to move a barrow of hay from one side of the barn to the other. He falls over when his dogs try to hug him - even though they're starving. Seven dogs he has! Two bitches just gave birth: six in one litter and two in the other. I told him to give 'em away, but he said, 'No, I can't do that. They're good dogs: they're guard dogs. They know when somebody bad is trying to do something. When the neighbors come, they won't let them in: they know what they're about. I can't kill these dogs; I can't do that.' I said give 'em away, but does he listen? No! He just talks ridiculous things all day long!

Some people gave themselves problems. Alcohol was the chief method. For many people, alcoholism was only a symptom. For others, it was what could only be described as a strange and tragically unnecessary life choice. In Treblinka, there was a couple nicknamed the model marriage. Every afternoon, they were seen stumbling hand in hand with wide smiles on their faces. They were drunk, having spent the entire morning walking around town, asking for spare change. "Thirty cents," the woman begged. "That's all I need: for bread." Meanwhile, the man always went to the soup kitchen at the convent. "And one for my wife," he would say, smiling. Then, he would take the soup outside and sell it to some slightly richer man for loose change. Afterwards, the woman went. "One for my husband, too," she would say, smiling. Then, she would sell some slightly richer woman some soup. After a while, the nuns got wise. They began insisting on eating in: no take-out. The model marriage moved elsewhere, having lost their primary source of income.

Samples of Fiction from Sex for Children

A literature book narrated by a pair of siblings on either side of the Atlantic whose profoundly weird sexual experiences pose a serious challenge to their traditional understanding of mathematicians, marriage, gay young men and God.

"There is a new order in the world," she said. "It is marked by freedom. Not rights - I don't mean freedom like liberty: that is something different. I mean power and opportunities. When we were young, our destinies were controlled by things bigger than us: by war, by systems; there were new technologies - these things were controlling the society, so even things like social movements were controlling us, the individuals - even though we didn't know it. And this was true for everybody: West, East, man, woman; these movements were migrations; they were political. It was different in the East: it was more obvious. It was harder. It was like living in suspension. But now: that world has reconciled itself: not only the systems, but the technologies. They are all there; they are all developed. They do not seem like they can really change things more than they have already changed them.

We were both diagonal to the shelf, and the left half of my body was directly behind the right half of yours. Suddenly, I became especially aware of our proximity. The feeling burst out of nowhere - it was muted, but still very powerful. I noted the connection between our proximity and the onset of the feeling. And then you moved. You shifted slightly closer to me, to the right, and then you shifted back. And the feeling reacted. It was responding to the movements of your organism.

Samples of Fiction from Tsiga Tsiga Tsiga

A collection of stories featuring a sexy Parisian ghost, a spooky Moon base full of vagina-faced aliens, a policeman with an Irish name, a truck full of watermelons, a flautist, and a man who has to see another man about a diseased horse.

The sword cut the stomach to ribbons. The flesh began sticking to Gog's arms. He was finding it hard to move. He was running out of time. He thrashed himself about. His head hit a large ball. It was soft. His head bounced off it. It was the beast's air sac. Gog gripped the organ. Skin Smoother jabbed around it. Water started trickling in. The skin was pierced. Gog jabbed some more. The water rushed in. The air sac squeezed past the scales.

Tae had trouble concentrating on the argument. The man of average build was standing between two women. One was young. She had square shoulders. The other was middle-aged. Her breasts were enormous. She wore-like everybody else-a standard issue People's Liberation Army uniform. Her physique defied standards. The brown, woolen skirt mushroomed her belly. The top button of her white shirt was fastened; the bottom one, less so-the three in between had already popped.

Samples of Fiction from Sorry Ms. Jackson

A real play. With drama in it. Talk fast. It takes two hours. Set in a guest house. In a small community. After a murder. Lots of suspicion. The characters learn to listen to each other. It's funny.

FLETCHER: That she roots for money?

LUKE: Is that fair dinkum?

FLETCHER: It's fair dinkum alright. Did you tell anybody about this?

LUKE: No.

– ACT I, lines 766-769

LUKE: (to ALICE) I have no idea.

MS. JACKSON: I was wrong to bring her here. I exposed her to my husband's lust. I knew it would happen; I wanted it. I wanted to see her crushed. I wanted the pain inflicted on me to be passed upon another. I apologize. It was wrong of me to want that. Lord, save Kokomo from this awful scourge. I beg of you. Don't let her live like this in shame. Don't let this sodomy continue!

LUKE: Sheila.

ALICE: Did you hear that?

LUKE: If you had to do something wrong to do something right, you would do it. Say I had to bail blokes up 'cause they were all crook in the head; that'd be bloody beaut - if I had to do it.

ALICE: What are you talking about?

LUKE: Do you know what Kokomo is trying to do?

ALICE: Yes.

LUKE: You do?

ALICE: We just talked about it.

– ACT I, lines 1052-1061

LUKE: If you insist. I was out one night at the ole rubbadedub gettin' rotten with me ping-pong mates; bloody bonzer alright 'cause I took a screamer that day 'gainst the ole Banana Benders - who didn't stand Buckley's by the way - too right! So I turn to me tall poppies and say, 'Look, boys: it's my shout; first, allow me to shoot through, piss a slab, maybe buy some dinkum durries to boot. We were hittin' the turps that night so they thought London to a brick that she'd be apples. On me way back from the durry, this yobbo throws a wobbly and spills beer all over me uni. We take it outside. He comes a gutser and falls flat on his face. 'Good on you,' I say. 'Go take a walkabout.' I'm so full and cranky, I sit next to this swagman drinkin' plonk right there on the side of the road. 'I'll be stuffed,' he says. 'Sheila told me I'd see a fight.' I'm like, what sheila? 'Sheila down the road,' says he. 'Take me there,' I say. We go. Sheila reads me palm. She tells me I'll have a ripper year. She holds out her hand and says, 'Fifty quid.' I haven't got a brass razoo. I ask her if she takes credit. 'I knew you would say that,' says she, pullin' out a credit card machine. The next thing you know, there's a bunch of prezzies on me credit card statement. As for the old swaggie and sheila, they weren't within cooee.

It must be easy for men like Jeff and Matt to get rid of love. To move on. Their torches must be tiny. I couldn't do it. I would burn for love brighter than a billion arrows. I would rip this rubber shell right off my soul. But I can't do it on a chance. It's too risky.

The Amazon assigned a top-notch surveillance unit to watch Orbitz's every move. They watched him clear out his flight deck locker. They watched him go to the gym one last time before turning in his passcard. They watched him share a smoke with the old-time janitor. They tweaked their earpieces as they listened to him tell stories about the janitor's great-great-grandfather who was shining floors and taking names the last time Orbitz was around. They fell asleep. The Amazon found out. He went crazy. He warned them that Orbitz was capable of anything. He had a thousand year head start. He was the richest man in the universe. He spoke hundreds of languages. He could have treasure buried on every planet in the Orion cluster if not the entire Orion arm of the galaxy. They were sleeping while Orbitz was on a transport to Earth.

Love is the answer...

Are you a eunuch?

The Body Acceptance Calendar

If a 45-year-old businesswoman and hard working mother of three kids is going to pose nude for a calendar, it's gonna have to be a good one. Margo didn't start a coffee shop called the Vagina Cafe to win her favors from the establishment. Even as she dishes out prizes to the 20 women who placed last in the twentienth anniversary run of her town's biggest road race, her business, unlike everyone else, doesn't get mentioned. She was an official sponsor for Christ's sake! But the announcer just couldn't swallow his patriarchy and get the words "Vagina Cafe" out of his mouth. That's not something a proper gentleman would say in front of a crowd of humble God-fearing "ladies" who cherish their modesty! And a Body Acceptance Calendar is certainly not what a humble God-fearing book-seller like a Barnes and Noble would put on their shelves! So how do I expect to sell this in the mainstream? Maybe if you download the free versions a thousand billion times it might help. Start downloading.

If you would like to enquire about a product you've seen on this page, fill out the enquiry form.

Our aesthetic...

What is Acceptance Art?

Acceptance means tolerating idiots. Acceptance means promoting democracy and the strength of the assembly. It means making sure that everybody is given a voice, even those among us who have been turned into eunuchs. The art of Acceptance is learning how to listen. Acceptance means opening your heart.

Acceptance will help us to ignore the Popes and Emperors and Presidents of our time who try to convince us that we are or should be eunuchs.

A Short History of Dictionaries

The word dictionary seems to have come into use in Europe first as the presumably made-up Latin term dictionarium meaning literally speak-chest, or place where you keep stuff that's spoken, the way a solarium means a place where you keep little bits of the sun. Now whether a solarium in practice means a room full of windows or a place where you keep an artifical tanning bed is a cultural matter. Similarly, what might be contained in any specific book calling itself a dictionary is a matter of priority based on a publisher's cultural goals, of which there could be many that despite an author's best intentions may conflict with each other. Deciding which dictionary supports which pillars of culture and how they do it and how well they do it is a process that every dictionary user can benefit from. It's a matter of getting to the bottom of things.

An alphabetical index of dictionaries with links to their chronological entries.

American Heritage Dict. of American English

The Heritage strives to polish up the giant block that Webster left in the pillar of education.1969

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

The Cambridge Learner's Dictionary builds the pillar of education.2003

Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English

The Concise Oxford steered the Oxford brand away from science and towards the pillar of education.1911

The Urban Dictionary builds the pillar of assembly as well as the pillar of art, sometimes in a way that would presumably make Samuel Johnson proud - oftentimes not.1999

Wikipedia

Wikipedia builds the pillar of education in the tradition of Webster.2001

Wiktionary

Wiktionary strives to build both the pillar of education and the pillar of science.2002

Wordnik

Wordnik is a website building the pillars of science, art and assembly.2009

A chronological account of dictionaries starting from the present-day

2011 – Oxford Advanced American Dictionary for Learners of English

Unfortunately, as much as the computer and the digitized corpus have improved our understanding of how words are used in print, it hasn't helped us much with pronunciation. Though based on the same solid corpora analysis as the grandiose Oxford English Dictionary and the same educational orientation as Hornby's original Learner's Dictionary, The Oxford Advanced American Dictionary has been criticized for fumbling on phonetics, leaving many students scratching their heads as to how Americans actual pronounce English.

2010 – Oxford Dictionaries Online

The folks at the Oxford University Press soon realized that the crowdsourced project they had invested in, guided by the Philological Society and supported at certain times by hospitalized lunatics, had more often than not focused on weird stuff and that many of the 2 tons of quotation slips that had been gathered were examples of how most people don't use words.

2009 – Wordnik

The idea behind Wordnik was to create a place on the web where you could go to find out everything you might expect from a dictionary for every word that you might expect to exist. The result is that Wordnik has compiled a corpus of billions of words and uses that data to show you a lot of sentences for every word whose usage you request to have illustrated.

2003 – Sketch Engine

In the same way that OneLook is a method of searching dictionaries, Sketch Engine provides the public with a way to search corpora, a word which is the irregularly constructed (as far as English goes) plural form of the word corpus, which in the field of linguistics or language study is a term that means a large and structured body of text that through analysis reveals facts about the way language is used, facts which can then be applied towards defining language. Sketch Engine has been brought to us by Lexical Computing Ltd since 2003 and is a great way to study collocation, or the pattern of one word occurring in close proximity to another.

2003 – TheFreeDictionary by Farlex, Inc

TheFreeDictionary.com is one of the online reference products brought to us by Farlex, a private corporation based in Pennsylvania.

2003 – Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

The Cambridge International Dictionary of English was published in 1995 and from 2003 was published as The Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, perhaps out of respect and/or as a way of gaining the respect that people have for the original Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, the perception that Cambridge is Oxford's little sister being somewhat well-attested.

2002 – Wiktionary

First brought online in 2002, Wiktionary is the language-specific spinoff of the larger Wikipedia project. The online dictionary is notable for relying on both users to submit and edit entries as well as automated computer programs, a result of which is the fact that Wiktionary, unlike most traditional dictionaries, features separate entries for grammatical inflections of a given keyword.

2002 – Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners

The use of Sketch-Engine type software enabled the Macmillan Dictionary to emphasize collocation. A selection of 7,500 frequently used words are color coded as red and graded according to frequency. Some words are also grouped together for their prominent use in metaphorical associations, such as the words "defend," "attack," "shoot down" and "clash over" in the context of describing a fight or an argument.

2001 – Wikipedia

The attempts of volunteer editors to reach consensus over issues such as article deletion would indicate that an encyclopedia, rather than being a comprehensive summation of human knowledge should more appropriately be understood as a cultural dictionary that is subject to the same often contradictory cultural purposes that Webster and other creators of linguistic dictionaries were incapable of avoiding.

1999 – Urban Dictionary

The Urban Dictionary is a good example of how digital technology can increase the ability of a dictionary to record language usage while at the same time decreasing its ability to systematically influence the use of a common language through education. Unlike Webster's Dictionary, which sought to simplify language in order to make a common tongue more accessible, the Urban Dictionary encourages language-users to increase the complexity of a language for aesthetic purposes, necessarily decreasing its utilitarian value.

1997 – Reference.com

Reference.com, first launched in 1997 by InReference, Inc, was later acquired by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC, which was then acquired by InterActiveCorp in 2008, which started life as the Silver King Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of the Home Shopping Network in 1986.

1996 – OneLook Dictionary Search

OneLook isn't so much a dictionary as it is a great method of searching other dictionaries that highlights how crucial the digital revolution has become for expanding the capability of reference material.

1996 – The Online Slang Dictionary

It boasts entries for over 16,000 slang words, many of them featuring citations from TV shows and movies which serves to distinguish it from traditional dictionaries derived from a corpus based largely on literature, journalism or academic writing.

1978 – Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

Hopefully the fact that all the definitions are written using only 2000 words should help. 2000 is still a lot of words and I wonder how many of them are part of the 3000 most frequent words in spoken and written English that Longman highlights. Hopefully nobody from the American Heritage Dictionary is angered by my use of the word hopefully.

1969 – American Heritage Dictionary of American English

The American Heritage Dictionary was first published in 1969 as a reaction to the liberal outlook of Webster's Third New International Dictionary, which quite shockingly or quite appropriately, depending on how you look at it, refused to tell people how to speak, eschewing such labels as "colloquial," "incorrect," or "improper."

1948 – Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English

The source material for the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary was prepared for non-native English speakers by Albert Sydney Hornby over the course of many years while he was both in the West and in the East. Albert Sydney Hornby went to Japan in 1923 to teach literature but ended up realizing that nobody there knew English well enough to make it worthwhile, so he set about creating what would eventually become the Advanced Learner's Dictionary after a long saga that involved World War II and paper rationing. The Advanced Learner's Dictionary was original published as the Idiomatic and Syntactic Dictionary in Japan on April 20, 1942 and is still in print there. Everywhere else (except China, which in those days was under the brutal occupation of Japan) it became the Oxford Dictionary of choice for students of English who aren't ready for the big time.

1911 – Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English

The post-war editions saw the first use of a swung dash to represent the keyword in illustrative examples or citations.

The Concise Oxford has a popular claim to fame as the dictionary originally used on the British game show Countdown, the Tenth Edition being involved in a controversy on the show due to its lack of compound words.

1898 – Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary

Webster's dictionary was completely revised in 1909 and subsequently styled Webster's New International Dictionary, the third edition of which, published in 1961, remains the definitive American dictionary against which all others are measured.

1828 – Noah Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language

Noah Webster was born in West Hartford, Connecticut and went on to become a pioneering writer and reformer. His reforming zeal is said to have been inspired by bad experiences in a one-room shed run by hunch-backed church-goers. Luckily his pa mortgaged the farm for him and he ended up being tutored before successfully enrolling at Yale College. He studied there while the Revolutionary War was raging, which meant he wasn't always actually at Yale, thanks to food shortages and threatened invasions.

Noah eventually got smart and founded a private school for the wealthy in Goshen, New York. By 1785, he had written a bunch of textbooks for elementary schools and they were big enough sellers that he could devote his time to working on his grand opus, the biggest dictionary ever compiled up to that point. It was meant to provide honest Americans with a strong intellectual foundation that would support the American values of tolerance and respect for individual rights.

Wrapped up into Webster's revolutionary zeal was the goal of secularizing American culture. His spelling book never mentioned God or the Bible not because Webster didn't appreciate them but because he wanted to keep them separate. In Webster's practice of it, education was a civilizing force in its own right. He was aware that the way people acquire and use a shared language reflects and informs their common values. Republicanism and liberty had to be among them. By 1837, his well-ordered spelling book had sold 15 million copies. By 1890, 60 million.

In contrast, Webster's first dictionary only sold 2,500 copies. Despite the lack of recognition, and the denunciations of cultural snobs, he immediately began expanding it. To ensure the authenticity of his etymologies, he studied twenty-six languages and traveled abroad. After 18 years, Webster had compiled a dictionary of 70,000 words, a large portion of which had never before been indexed. He introduced many modern spellings of words that have lasted to this day, such as wagon instead of waggon. Despite being criticized by some as vulgar, Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language went on to dominate the English-speaking world. Poets such as Emily Dickinson swore by it.

To learn more about Webster's life and influence, consider a great book by Joshua Kendall that doesn't shirk from giving a complete picture of the man, obsessions and all.

1755 – Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language

A Dictionary of the English Language was written by Samuel Johnson and published on April 15, 1755. It wasn't the first nor would it be the last, but as the work of one man it shall always remain one of the greatest.

It took the man about nine years to finish all the work, which, incredibly he did almost entirely by himself. The only help he got was in copying out all the quotes he had marked up in his copies of famous English works.

There are a lot more dictionaries out there to be explored. To get a clear look at how much of a cultural window a dictionary can be, consider browsing entries catalogued by fat Captain Grose back in 1785 under the title Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, a dictionary OF BUCKISH SLANG, UNIVERSITY WIT, AND PICKPOCKET ELOQUENCE.

To get some insight into what kind of a person does a thing like write a dictionary (besides me), I recommend reading some of Douglas Harper's articles on culture. He's a historian whose entry for the word dictionary in his Online Etymology Dictionary I hyperlink to in the introduction to this section. His thoughtful and honest writing on topics such as the promotion of physical desire or the study of sexuality contrast well with more impassioned articles in defense of the under-appreciated American "middle-man" or the connotative strength of a comparison of historic French slavery in the New World with the record of slavery in what is now the United States, a topic of particular interest for Mr. Harper and one which is at the top of no doubt many an American's cultural agenda.

Help me keep the "My Story" page up and running...

What was once an art gallery and coffee shop is now a "pokój do wynajęcia" in Bielsko-Biała - that is to say, beautiful accomodations!

The Vagina Cafe was a living example of Acceptance art that bridged the gap between the seven pillars of culture...

Situated inside the courtyard of a beautiful pre-war building in the town of Bielsko-Biała, there once was a cafe dedicated not only to a decent cup of coffee, not just to an excellent vegetarian meal, not even to the special ambience created by the expert hand of its one-of-a-kind hostess...

Above all "Vagina," as it was called in its native Poland, was dedicated to improving the life of the average Polish woman, through workshops and monthly get-togethers, through sponsorship of local sporting and social events, through its constant presence during the many crisis-filled years of our world's recent past...

The Vagina Cafe strove to remind people that "Vagina" is not a dirty word and that every woman deserves a place that isn't defined by four walls and a ceiling but by the people who welcome her in it, by the people, both male and female, who accept her presence as an equal.

The Vagina Cafe isn't now just a memory; it lives on in my heart and in my dedication to improving the lives of women and thereby the quality of civilization of the world at large. I am proud to say that far from being cold and shuttered, the Vagina Cafe lives on as "Vagina Night," an apartment for rent like no other that keeps the adventurous traveler to Bielsko-Biala warm and cozy - thanks largely to the enormous chimney whose installation I helped to finance.

It is my humble honor to represent the art of the fine ladies of the Silesian region, which cradled me in birth, to my fine and fellow citizens of the United States, who nurtured me into adulthood. Please share with me this noble initiative!"

Margo went the distance to entertain, enliven, and enrich her community...

Drawings from the Vagina Cafe menu by Michal Slaby

The hard work helped give a lot of women a sense of confidence and strength...

The Vagina Cafe may be gone, but the spirit of Vagina continues. Long live Vagina Night!

If you know a Polish speaker or two trying to learn English, tell them to try it out!

Are you buying this?

What?I import contemporary art to the United States from Europe... That includes icons, drafts, models, cultivars, hand-crafted merchandise and tools, documents and records. It's not so much the shape of the art that's important. It's the aesthetic that counts.

Embedded in every true art piece is a philosophical message... - an idea, whose expression determines the work's ultimate value. Before you invest in a piece of art you need to consult a person who knows what he's talking about.

Who?The vast majority of artists have gone to an academy to try to master a particular technique... Before I became a practicing artist, I earned a degree in Art History from Georgetown University. I wanted to know where art had come from and what people of succeeding generations had valued in that work.

Understanding the history of art and the history of civilization in general is crucial... to knowing where the practice of art is truly heading. It's one thing to paint in a striking manner or to decorate a piece of pottery in a beautiful way. It's quite another to create paintings or pottery that represent the ideas that succeeding generations will come to embrace rather than abandon.

I can't predict the future... I don't know with certainty how the value of the art that I represent will grow or what the reputations of my fellow artists will be in the years to come. I can claim that my work and the work that I put forward represents a desire to create a new and better world through hard work and innovation rather than reacting to corruption and vice with self-satisfied irony and cleverness.

The art that represents the values of a better tommorow will bring the best return on your investment.

Whose? Which?There are historic and demographic reasons why the artists of Silesia are best positioned to create the art of tomorrow... The pre-war German population of Silesia was expelled by Soviet military and political forces not long after the capitulation of the Nazi regime. This was accompanied by territorial expansion at the expense of the German state by its neighbors to the east.

People from diverse communities came from all across Eastern Europe to settle in Silesia... - people of different faiths, different dialects, and different histories found themselves next door to each other in a place whose traditions they didn't know. They were compelled to learn how to listen.

Two generations have passed since those terrible days of exile and resettlement... Institutions have grown. Prosperity continues to be nurtured. With prosperity has come the opportunity to express the unique tradition of Silesia through the many voices of the artists whose work I have described for you here.

Where?I find the work in Silesia - in Poland - in Europe... I purchase it and at my own risk and cost I export it to the United States, where my family has a home at 201 Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, New Jersey.

When?I am a self-financed independent artist... I don't have a trust fund or wealthy relatives. I worked as a rural letter carrier at the post office in West Milford and I still use the money I earned delivering mail to finance everything from my personal expenses to the Vagina Cafe's new chimney to the art collections you see described here.

I am not an international corporation... I am a hard-working American who was born in Silesia in Poland and who wants the best for both of his countries. I am a citizen diplomat. I continuously export this art as my resources allow because I think it's a good investment. Please consider purchasing something you like even if it's not yet available stateside. Your purchase gives me the confidence I need to keep going.

How?All purchases must be paid by USPS Money Order... This is a safe and cost-effective financial instrument. Each USPS Money Order up to $500.00 costs $1.20 and each order from $500.01 up to $1,000.00 costs only $1.60.

Make each money order payable to M. Slaby at 201 Ridge Road in West Milford, New Jersey... and have it sent to the same address. The postal code is 07480-3112. Be sure to at least mark the envelope with the lot and item number you wish to purchase - that way, if the item becomes unavailable I can simply have the envelope returned to you without even opening it. Be sure to save your receipt for the money order from the post office in order to reclaim your money.

If you want your money credited automatically to a similar item... once it becomes available or to a different item entirely just let me know by at least marking the envelope with the word "credit." It doesn't hurt to put your calling card in the envelope so I know how to contact you should the need arise.

I don't cash your money orders until your purchase is safely in the United States... and I'm in the process of sending you a receipt. However, it would greatly please me if you would like to make the sum of your money order available to me as a loan at no interest, which might be needed to expediate the export of a given lot. If that would please you then by all means please let me know by at least marking the envelope with the word "loan." I would sincerely appreciate it as one small businessman to another.

Why?Money orders are safe and cheap... It's one of the many services provided by the United States Postal Service that I believe in - despite having personally resigned from the Service because of its exploitation of labor. Unfortunately, the banks that issue credit cards exploit people even more and I don't relish the idea of giving away two percent of the value of every transaction in exchange for the convenience of using credit information to facilitate trade. It's a racket that traps consumers and cripples merchants while benefiting primarily the monied interest that rules our somewhat democratic Republic.

Art shouldn't be bought on credit... A wise man invests his savings into fine art to avoid inflation and to potentially profit from the support given to a contemporary artist whose skill is readily perceived. There is also the joy to be felt from possessing a unique artifact of human ingenuity and the pride that comes from participating in its maintenance. This feeling is priceless.

Michal is exporting art from Poland...is he loony tunes?

Your browser does not support the video tag.

Michal's Sales PitchLot 1: Silesian Handicrafts

T-shirt fundraiser for sale

Last T-Shirt with the logo that I designed.

From a set of, I believe, twenty produced by Margo and given out to a portion of the last 20 women to finish the 20th anniversary Fiat Road Race in Bielsko-Biała, cf. the movie. This is the last one left in it's original packaging and my supporters - like the poor women of Bielsko - are going to have to fight for it. Whoever invests the most money with me, and who lets me borrow it to invest in the next lot, will not only be rewarded with some beautiful piece of art, but will get this priceless t-shirt as a reward for being my top supporter. $1000.00 or best offer. Remember to authorize me to hold the sum as credit against a future purchase and to authorize me to borrow against it.

To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #1 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.

To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #2 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.

Decorative collar for sale

Decorative collar by Zuzanna.

Ethnic layered cloth jewelry constructed on a cotton base and adorned with ribbons, tassels, and a yellow fringe. Fastened on the side with 11 buttons, fitted entirely with a pleasant lining. The style is an Indo-Asian-African multinational color combination. The collar is very extravagant and an extraordinary addition to any clothing, guaranteed to attract attention. Just a simple dress and a unique image is ready. Dry-cleaning recommended. Available now for $200.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.

To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #3 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.

Seamless handbag for sale

Handbag by Sylwia.

Handmade from felted all-natural Australian and South American wool. Entirely felted, seamless. Finished with a white lining, inside is a small pocket. Lining is sewn and stitched in by hand. Available now for $180.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.

To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #4 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.

Patchwork quilt for sale

Patchwork quilt by Alicja.

Bedspread made of cotton and polyester material. Inserted with polyester lining. 90 by 70 cm. Available now for $120.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.

To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #5 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.

Nuno-felt shawl for sale

Shawl by Sylwia.

Scarf made ​​with the nuno felting technique (wet felting fibre into a silk gauze) using South American wool. Two-sided scarf with latticework at the ends. Wholly in the colors red, black, green in an abstract pattern. Available now for $100.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.

To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #6 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.

Clara the doll for sale

Clara by Alicja.

Clara loves roses and greenery, adores tormenting spiders with long legs and sleeping soundly in the afternoon. Cuddly toy made of cotton and polyester, stuffed with polyester lining. Available now for $70.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.

To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #7 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.

Noah the doll for sale

Noah by Alicja.

Noah doesn't know what to like and what not to like but keeps wondering and thinking about it. Cuddly toy made of cotton and polyester, stuffed with polyester lining. Available now for $70.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.

To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #8 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.

Black suspenders for sale

Black suspenders by Zuzanna.

Two-sided suspenders from black material with a rose motif on one side and striped cotton on the other. Connected by a leather triangle. Adjustable length. Hand washing in cold water recommended. Available now for $50.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.

To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #9 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.

Orange suspenders for sale

Orange suspenders by Zuzanna.

Two-sided suspenders made of denim and orange material with a Polish floral folk design. Connected by a leather triangle. Adjustable length. Hand washing in cold water recommended. Available now for $50.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.

To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #10 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.

Green suspenders for sale

Green suspenders by Zuzanna.

Two-sided suspenders made of denim and green material with a mountain folk design. Connected by a leather triangle. Adjustable length. Hand washing in cold water recommended. Available now for $50.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.

To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #11 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.

To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #12 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.

To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #13 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.

To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #14 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.

'Coral' necklace for sale

Corals by Sylwia.

Necklace made ​​of cotton pieces with organdy and decorated with beads, suspended on cotton strings. Can be worn as a necklace, as a brooch or as a belt tied at the side. Available now for $40.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.

To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #15 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.

About the site...

About the name...

My personal policy...

My privacy policy...

Copyright information...

Photo montage by Michal Slaby

Copyright information...

Do not abuse another's work

The internet is a medium that seriously challenges society's understanding of copyright. In order to view a web page, an internet user makes a copy of it. So anyone writing "All rights reserved" at the bottom of their page is writing nonsense. By publishing on the web they've implicitly waived the right to control how many digital copies are made. That said, if you want to quote me, quote me. Tell your audience where you got the content from. Never try to pass yourself off as me. You will embarrass yourself. Do not scrape content from this site. You're going to hurt yourself. Do not plagiarize me. You will look like a fool. Find your own voice. People want to hear it - even if your boss tells you otherwise. If your words are important, they will be shared. If you gorge yourself on another's man's corn, start tilling his field.

My privacy policy...

I have faith

I pursue commercial transactions in good faith. I follow up on enquiries in good faith. I listen to propositions in good faith. I consider submissions for listings and comments in good faith. I don't like ninjas who lure me into traps. If you are a ninja who does something like that, you will make me think twice about respecting your privacy. Otherwise, why would you worry about it? This site is hand-coded. If a mistake has been made it's not because I'm incompetent. More than likely it's because I've been distracted by somebody else's mistakes and I can't tell you about them because respecting people's privacy is considered such a great thing. I like it too, but I don't fetishize it. Sometimes a little public air is what the issue needs, even if it means feeling a little humiliated.

My personal policy...

My name is on the line

I choose not sell or promote a piece of art unless I'm confident it will appreciate in value. That is a fiduciary duty. Nor will I hide an artist who may still be in the process of formation and who needs to be trusted. That is an aesthetic duty. I won't act like you're wasting my time just because you're an idiot. I won't roll my eyes because for some reason you're not ready for the high-end. That is a democratic duty.

I want better art in my hands and in your hands. I want something we can both be proud of. I won't waste your time or my time trying to talk you into something you don't need. If you don't need art, close the page and don't come back. Otherwise don't be intimidated. Be prepared to face my judgment. Be prepared to protect your own interest. I can't do it for you. I'm an artist doubling as an art dealer. I'm not your lawyer. I have to protect the art first. Then I have to protect the artists I work with. If you're in the process of becoming a true art collector, that's your policy too.

About the name...

Why 4Occupy?

It doesn't matter what your opinion is of the Occupy movement. At best a bunch of loony freedom fighters or at worst a terrorist mess. You may not even realize that it still exists and that it's still maturing or that it's done a lot of great work providing disaster relief.

What's important is that you know what my opinion is. Yes, it's important that you listen to me: Michal. That's what Occupying teaches me to do. I'm constantly learning how to listen to myself and to others especially when I'm pushing myself to listen to a bunch of loons. You can't govern well unless you know how to listen and democracy will never succeed until we all know how to consider another person's needs as if they were our own. Give yourself the power to accept a prayer. Be 4Occupy.

About the site...

Whose art? What kind of art?

This is a curated hand-coded online art gallery. It has standards. Those standards are dictated by the aesthetic principles of its owner.

I, Michal Slaby, commit myself to practicing a culture of Acceptance. I have little patience for feudalism. I'm talking about the Lords and Ladies who seat themselves atop a pillar of culture and look down upon the world. I favor people of the world. I favor outsiders. I favor artists who are cultivating their ability to listen.

I have no time for the art of yesterday. I have no time for the cesspool of abstraction. I have no time for people who are trying to be clever. This is a site for honest, hard-working artists no matter what their training.